Description
Model of the skeleton bones of a hand for medical instruction. Bones and joints are labeled with numbers and letters. A rectangular brass plate is engraved with the maker’s name. The base is inscribed with identification numbers “XIX/18,” probably by a school that owned it, and has a paper identification label verso.
Robert Brendel and his son and successor Reinhold (c. 1861-1927) produced botanical and other models in the late 19th and early 20th century. The elder Brendel founded a model factory in Breslau, Germany. An 1866 document lists 30 highly enlarged scale models of plants. By 1896, Reinhold Brendel had moved the business to Berlin, and from 1902 on, it was located in Grunewald, near Berlin. The models were made of papier mache and other materials. German and Austrian university professors served as scientific advisors. Brendel was honored for his achievements with the Prussian silver state medal.
Condition: Generally good to very good with the usual wear. Slight chipping to edge of hand and lifting of varnish. The ebonized wood having usual scattered wear and flaking paint.
Reference:
Reiling, Henri. “Beter dan de natuur.” [Better Than Nature.] in Brand, Jan and de Vries, Alex (eds., NEO, Utrecht: Centraal Museum: 2003. pp. 221-235. English translation online at Henri Reiling Blaschka & FriÄ Studies. http://members.ziggo.nl/here/neo.html (23 May 2011).
Reiling, Henri. “Über Blaschkas Glasmodelle und die zeitgenössische Naturgeschichte, mit einem Anhang über Brendels botanische Modelle. [On the Blaschkas’ glass models and contemporary natural history, with an appendix on the Brendels’ botanical models.]” in Michael Kaasch & Joachim Kaasch (eds.). Verhandlungen zur Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie, Vol. 14. Berlin: Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung, 2009, pp. 267-282. English translation online at Henri Reiling Blaschka & FriÄ Studies. http://members.ziggo.nl/here/blaschka-brendel.html (23 May 2011).
